Folding chair



l Nov. 13,'1934. EMERSQN 1,980,615

FOLDING CHAIR Filed March 16, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 13, 1934. w.MERSON FOLDING CHAI R Filed March 16, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedNov. 1 3, 1 934 l 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING CHAIR Lilley W.Emerson, Hooksett, N. H., assignor oflomhalf to Harry A. Freedman,Brooklyn,

Application March 16, 1933, Serial No. 661,149 R S S U 5 claims. (c1.15s-117') The object of the invention is to provide a of which arereduced in diameter to provide profolding chair for beach or steamer orequivalent truding studs 16 which are adapted for seating in use whichmay be folded up into such compact the notches or seats 17 formed in theupper edges form as to be then of a thickness no greater than of therear legs which are interconnected at their 5 the combined widths of thestruts constituting lower ends with a tie bar 18. 'F'J its supportingelement and of a reduced length; The seat is dened by the side rails 19which are to provide a folding chair in which a continuous pivotallyconnected with the tie bar 20 connectweb constitutes both the seat andback and is ing the front legs at intermediate points in their anchoredat the line-defining the juncture at the lengths, these side rails 19having also pivotal seat and back, so that no undue strain may beconnections with the cross bar 15 beyond which S5 imposed upon it, sothat it may be readily dethey extend slight distances to be connected bya tached from the frame at this point and so that tie bar 21 which isparallel with but spaced from it may be adjusted to increase or diminishthe the cross bar a distance sufficient to permit the fullness of thescat 0I 0f the beek; and generally passage of a double thickness of theweb 22 conl5 to provide a chair 01 the kind indicated Which stitutingthe seat and back, one extremity of the F3 is of simple form andsusceptible Of Cheap manuweb being connected to the tie bar and thefacture. other to the tie bar 14.

With this object in View the invention consists An intermediate portion0f the web extends in in the construction and combination 0f parts 0fdouble thickness through the space between the 2O which a preferredembodiment iS illustrated in tie bar 21 and the cross bar 15 andreceives in the '75 the accompanying drawings but t0 Which em" loop thusformed the lock bar or stick 23 thc bodiment the invention is not to berestricted. diameter of which is greater than the spacing Continued usein practice may dictate certain bei-,Ween the bars 21 and 15, so'thai;the web is changes 0r alteratOnS and the right iS Claimed t0 locked atthis point and a line of juncture between -25 make any such changes oralterations as will fall the seat and back denedgg, within the scope ofthe annexed ClamS- The front legs at the lower end are connected In thedrawings: by the tie rod 24 and arm 25 are provided with E igure 1 1s aperspectlve vlew 0f the mvention pivota1 connections with the side raus12 of the n 1n its extended DOSl'GlOnback and also pivotal connectionswith the front Flgllle 2 1S e SeCtlOnal VlfW 0n the Plane lndllegs 10 incommon with the pivotal connections 85 cated by the Ime 2 2 Of-F1gbetween the latter and the rear legs.

Figure 3 1S a DOOInDlaD VIEW The pivotal connections of the arms withthe Figure 4 1S a flOIlt VleW ShOWmg lh? Chan and side rails of the backare the same distances from lts attendant leg rest in folded positlon.the cross bar 15 as the pivotal connections of the Flgllle 5 1S a VleWSlmar to Flg' 4- arms with the front legs are from the tie bar 20. 93

iinsistingsintassi of arms as by cated by the une 7 7 of Fig 4 thep1vota1 connections are the same as the Figure 8 is a sectional view onthe plane indilengths of me Stde raus 19 of, the seat as de' cated bythe une 8 8 of Fig' 5 fined by their pivotal connections with the tiebar 20 and the cross bar 15. Thus the arms and Figure 9 is a perspectiveview of the web and its attendant Supporting barsI the side rails of theseat and portions of the front The chair is supported on the from, andrear legs and portions of the side rails of the back legs 1o and 11, the1atter being pivotally con define parallelosrarns, whatever theadjustment,

nected to the former at their upper ends. The and that may be any oneofseveral positions VO rear legs have always a pronounced inclination,between a substantial upright position of the back J when the chair isextended, while the front legs or a pronounced rearward inclination ofthe latter incline slightly from the vertical in the most updepending onwhich notches or seats in the rear right position of the back andincrease their legs the studs 16 are engaged. By arranging theinclination as the back is adjusted rearwardly, linkage to define aparallelogram, the most comq the planes of the front legs and back beingparpact position of the elements is secured in the 1 allel in everyinstance. folding loperation, this arrangement permitting The backcomprises the side rails 12 connected the front legs to fold downbetween the rear legs at their upper ends with a tie bar 14 and at theirand in. edge-abutting engagement with the side lower ends with the crossbar 15, the extremities rails of the back, the side rails of the seatfalling 1w to an extent substantially the length of the arm restportion. Because of this construction the chair, when it is folded, isreduced to a minimum length in one direction. It will be readily seen,

' in Figs. 6 to 8, that no members of the chair extend greatly beyondthe coextensive portions of the chair and that, therefore, the length ofthe chair when folded is governed, in the main, by the` sum of twoadjacent sides of the parallelogram and is not much greater .than thislength. To this end, it will also be noted that the front legs portion10 project downwardly to an extent substantially the length of the seatportion 19. Like- Wise, the rear leg portion 11 is substantially thesame length as the sum of two adjacent sides of the parallelogram. It isthis feature that corrtributes greatly to the compactness of the chairwhen it is folded for shipment, or other purposes.

By reason of the lock bar or stick, the web at the line of juncturebetween the seat and back may be readily adjusted to increase ordiminish the fullness of either.

A detachable leg rest is provided for use with the chair and thiscomprises a slatted platform 26, the side rails of which at one end areprovided with the hooks 27 for engagement with the tie bar 20 when thechair is extended. The leg rest may have its free end rest on the floorto assume a pronounced inclined position, or it may be elevated abovethe floor level by extending its legs 28 which are foldably connectedwith it.

In the folded position of the chair, the legs of the leg rest are foldeddown against the plat-- form and the latter is inserted between the seat.and back with the hooks 26 engaged with the cross bar, as clearly shownin Figure4 of the drawings.

The invention having been described, what is claimed as new and usefulis:

1. A collapsible chair comprising, front leg and back rest portions, andarm rest and seat portions, respectively forming opposite sides of aparallelogram pivoted at its corners, and a rear leg portion pivoted atthe juncture of the arm rest and front leg portions and adapted toextend diagonally across and detachably connected at an intermediatepoint to the parallelogram, the back rest portion projecting beyond itspivot with the arm rest portion in` one direction to an extentsubstantially the length of the arm rest portion, the front leg portionprojecting beyond its pivot with the seat portion in the oppositedirection to an extent substantially the length of the seat portion, andthe rear leg portion extending from its pivot substantially the lengthof two adjacent sides of the parallelogram, whereby the chair can becompactly folded.

2. A collapsible chair comprising, front-leg and back rest portions, andarm rest and seat portions, respectively forming opposite sides of aparallelogram pivoted at its corners, a rear leg portion pivoted at thejuncture of the arm rest and front leg portions and adapted to extenddiagonally across the parallelogram, and means at the juncture of theback rest portion and seat portion to engage the rear leg portionadjustably at various points along its length for Vholding the chair todesired seating position, the back rest portion projecting beyond itspivot with the arm rest portion in one direction to an extentsubstantially the length of the arm rest portion, the front leg portionprojecting beyond its pivot with the seat portion in the oppositedirection to an extent substantially the length of the seat portion, andthe rear leg portion extending from its pivot substantially the lengthof two adjacent sides of the parallelogram, whereby the chair can becompactly folded.

3. A collapsible chair comprising front leg and back rest portions, andarm rest and seat portions, respectively forming opposite sides of aparallelogrampivuted at its corners, and a diagonally extending rear legconnected at one end to one corner of the parallelogram and intermediateits ends detachably connected to the other corner of the parallelogram,the back rest portion projecting beyond its pivot with the arm restportion in one direction to an extent substantially the length of thearm rest portion, the front leg portion projecting beyond its pivot withthe seat portion in the opposite direction to an extent substantiallythe length of the seat portion, and the rear leg portion extending fromits pivot substantially the length of two adjacent sides of theparallelogram, whereby the chair can be compactly folded.

4. A collapsible chair comprising front leg' and back rest portions, andarm rest and seat portions, respectively forming opposite sides of aparallelogram pivoted at its corners, and a rear leg constituting adiagonal of the parallelogram to which it is connected at one end and atan intermediate point in its length, one of said conncctions beingpivotal and the other releasable, the back rest portion projectingbeyond its pivot with the arm rest portion in one direction to an extentsubstantially the length of the arm rest portion, the front leg portionprojecting beyond its pivot with the seat portion in the oppositedirection to an extent substantially the length of j,

the seat portion, and the rear leg portion extending from its pivotsubstantially the length of two adjacent sides of the parallelogram,whereby the chair can be compactly folded.

5. A collapsible chair comprising front leg and front leg portionprojecting beyond its pivot with the seat portion in the oppositedirection to an extent substantially the length of the seat portion, andthe rear leg portion extending from its pivot substantially the lengthof two adjacent sides of the parallelogram, whereby the chair can becompactly folded.

LILLEY W. EMERSON.

